# Prove the big bang... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 14, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prove-the-big-bang/415575 "2007-08-14T17:22:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prove-the-big-bang/415575/101 "2007-08-21T23:01:42Z")
[QUOTE=lightwait] Thank you, Then why does He/she use the “F” word? Blessings [/QUOTE] I hear he puts sugar on his porridge too. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prove-the-big-bang/415575/102 "2007-08-21T23:16:08Z")
[QUOTE=lightwait] I knew that no person could, in the end run, prove the big bang. As it happened, only one tried— **I am not going to debate the issue in a venue that is built on proving each other wrong** —that gets us nowhere. [/quote] On the contrary, it gets us to the truth. “Proving each other wrong,” is one of the central tenets of the scientific method, and correspondingly, of all advances in science and technology for the last two hundred years and change. Which ultimatly makes it the basis of modern civilization as a whole. It’s also the entire point of the board on which you are posting, and this forum in particular. If you’re not interested in debate, why the Hell are you hanging out in a place called **Great Debates**? > [@](#): > > Thank you, > > Then why does He/she use the “F” word? > > Blessings Why shouldn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prove-the-big-bang/415575/103 "2007-08-21T23:17:30Z")
[QUOTE=lightwait] Thank you, Then why does He/she use the “F” word? Blessings [/QUOTE] Why wouldn’t he? Is there some Biblical passage I’m not aware of that says you stop being a follower of Christ if you use crude language? That sounds more like demnominational doctrine than pure Christianity. You really aren’t making much sense. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prove-the-big-bang/415575/104 "2007-08-21T23:18:49Z")
[QUOTE=lightwait] Thank you, Then why does He/she use the “F” word? Blessings [/QUOTE] Saying or typing fuck does not revoke one’s belief in Jesus. Watch this- shit fuck cock suck cunt bitch bitch bitch. Hey, whaddya know? I’m still as Christian as I was two minutes ago. It might be crass and crude, but who says one can’t be crass and crude and Christian? ETA: wow, that hit a few nerves, huh? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prove-the-big-bang/415575/105 "2007-08-22T03:19:36Z")
[QUOTE=lightwait] My point was and is, after being treated poorly in another thread, that no person can prove the big bang. However, were we to come together in that pursuit, instead of displaying our argumentative natures, we might be able to achieve that goal. [/QUOTE] No, no, no. You also can’t prove General Relativity, or the laws of thermodynaics. The justification for them is that they work and make reliable predictions that this will happen if you do that. What you can prove is that GR follows logically from some basic assumptions. The main assumption is that the effect of gravity can’t be distinquished from the effect of acceleration. Another which underlies, I believe, Special Relativity is that the speed of light is a constant.Starting from such assumptions, Einstein defveloped his theory which relies on those unproven assumptions. Big Bang theory can be developed from GR with a couple of additional, unproven assumptions as described in the article linked below. What you are really talking about is evidence that the assumption of a big bang explains the data. [Here is a long article on the Big Bang with lots of that evidence.](http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/astronomy/bigbang.html#timedilation) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prove-the-big-bang/415575/106 "2007-08-22T04:36:10Z")
[QUOTE=Saltire] Why wouldn’t he? Is there some Biblical passage I’m not aware of that says you stop being a follower of Christ if you use crude language? That sounds more like demnominational doctrine than pure Christianity. You really aren’t making much sense. [/QUOTE] I thought the only prohibition was on taking God’s name in vain. One wonders what kind of god he worships. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PBear42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PBear42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear42)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prove-the-big-bang/415575/107 "2007-08-22T05:22:39Z")
[QUOTE=lightwait] Thank you, Then why does He/she use the “F” word? Blessings [/QUOTE] This is called argument _ad hominem_. Anyhoo, feel free to ignore my comment. Was just trying to dial you into a little history of the Board. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prove-the-big-bang/415575/108 "2007-08-22T23:00:01Z")
[QUOTE=lightwait] I knew that no person could, in the end run, prove the big bang. As it happened, only one tried— **I am not going to debate the issue in a venue that is built on proving each other wrong** —that gets us nowhere. Blessings [/QUOTE] You could have saved yourself quite a few keystrokes by simply saying “I am not going to debate the issue.”. Proving each other wrong, when you come right down to it, is what debate (at least, scientific debate) is. If you want to debate the issues over the big bang, Olber’s Paradox, etc. then be my guest. If you don’t want to, then don’t. But don’t tell people that your rather unconventional ideas about scientific debate are how people should be debating. Maledictions. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prove-the-big-bang/415575/109 "2007-08-22T23:17:42Z")
[QUOTE=lightwait] I knew that no person could, in the end run, prove the big bang. As it happened, only one tried— **I am not going to debate the issue in a venue that is built on proving each other wrong** —that gets us nowhere. [/QUOTE] Ah, the “Triumphant Retreat” tactic. Also known as “I win, and now I run away before anyone can tell me I didn’t win!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prove-the-big-bang/415575.md?page=5)